Hey guys,
Did anyone apply for this program? It’s funded by the State Department and it seems pretty competitive, so it’d be nice to hear what you guys thought. Here’s the website for more info: https://indolead.wordpress.com/application-information-for-u-s-students/
My daughter did but she hasn’t heard anything back yet. Not sure if they only contact students who are selected for the interviews. She emailed asking for a timeline a couple of weeks ago but didn’t receive a reply.
Hmm, that’s interesting. I sent an email and an administrator replied straight away. He said that semifinalists are told by the end of February (next week! :0 ) and they choose finalists by the end of March. Hope that helps!
@DanShaynes7799 Thanks for the update. Best of luck to you! Please let us know if you move on and I’ll do the same if my daughter is contacted. Did the adminstrator say how semifinalists would be contacted?
That’s a good question @riverboat . He said roughly 100 applicants apply for 8 spots, so I’d assume around 25 semifinalists are chosen.
@DanShaynes7799 A quick update to let you know that my daughter was sent an email this morning letting her know she is a semifinalist. Hope you received good news as well.
That’s great news! I also got an email last night, so hopefully both our interviews go well. Looks like I was a little off, and there are 18 semifinalists for this program 
Congratulations on reaching the next step in the process! Unfortunately my son was not selected for an interview. Do you happen to know how many people applied this year? What type of extracurriculars, academics, etc… were reflected in your application. Just curious…
@DanShaynes7799 Looks like your original number of semifinalists was close. My daughter just checked the interview link and it is up to 28 participants.
@robinhill Sorry to hear that your son wasn’t selected to move on. I’m wondering if age and region may play into the semifinalist selection. My daughter is on the older end of the range (17) and from a small town several states away from Virginia. Not sure if that factors into anything. With regard to extracurriculars, she’s not particularly outstanding: sings in the school choir, a couple of math competitions under her belt, summer time job, volunteers regularly at an assisted living home, no sports. She does write well so maybe the essays helped. Academically, decent GPA (3.7 W). So…really not sure how they select. But if they only select 8 students to go and there are now 28 semifinalists, it’s going to take a really good interview to make it into that 30% that are ultimately selected.
Daughter just received the email that she didn’t make the final cut and won’t be joining the group going to Indonesia this summer. 
Yeah, same here